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Album Review: Nadir — “Extinction Rituals”

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Now, I like black metal as much as the next guy, assuming the next guy really likes black metal, but my stance on black metal has always been and will always be that black metal is at its best when it is chopped and screwed, blended up with other influences and genres into a heavy metal cocktail.  Some pairings make more sense than others, but in the end it’s about injecting new life into a genre that has the potential to stale very rapidly.  On their debut full-length Extinction Rituals, Nadir attempts a shot in the arm to black metal by bringing in their hardcore influences.

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Album Review: Gorod — “The Orb”

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Gorod - The Orb

I can’t say any better about Gorod than Buke (who *claims* he’s not good with written words, but we can all see that’s modesty at the very least) already did in the interview that went up very recently: there’s a huge difference between “tech death” and “technical death metal”.  Tech death does indeed imply wankery for its own sake (and this is coming from someone who is unabashedly a fan of wankery for its own sake), whereas technical death metal is grounded in the foundations of death metal.  On The Orb, Gorod ponders the meaning of both, and how to effectively split the difference to double down on what makes them so great.

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Receiving the Evcharist: Grip and Lizard King

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Receiving the Evcharist 2018

We are back, fine folks, with another delicious pairing, ready to kickstart your end of the week.  Today’s offering is GRIP’s Structure and Pipeworks Brewing Company’s Lizard King.  Drink from the cup of heresy.

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Receiving the Evcharist: Pyrrhic Salvation and Crumb Cake

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Receiving the Evcharist 2018

Every once in a while, a short new release deserves to be paired with a nice hard beverage to round out what may be the longest week in human history.  Receiving the Evcharist is our weekly feature where we pair choice albums with our favorite libations.  Drink from the cup of heresy.  This week’s offering: Pyrrhic Salvation’s Manifestum I and Rhinegeist Brewing Company’s Crumb Cake.

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Album Review: Planeswalker — “Tales of Magic”

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You know, I kind of can’t believe it’s taken until the year of our lord 2022 for someone to put power metal together with Magic: The Gathering on a big stage.  On paper, it seems like an obvious match made in heaven, especially considering that the immense amount of careful worldbuilding Wizards of the Coast has been doing with the most recent sets lends itself quite well to soaring vocals and bombastic guitars.  Maybe they aren’t the first, but Planeswalker are attempting to ramp up to bigger and better proportions on their debut Tales of Magic, summoning sickness be damned.

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